MultiSystem I

The first software based pipe organ relay.

In 1990, when the internet was unheard of and Cat5 cable was not invented we started work on the first software powered pipe organ relay.
The first system was delivered to Goulding and Wood in 1992 and MultiSystem (Thanks Richard Houghten for the name) soon became the industry
standard for advanced pipe organ controllers.

The system evolved over the years with the addition of capture, recorders and electronic key sensors. In 2011 MultiSystem II was born,
taking advantage of Ethernet data cables, fibre optics and faster processors
MultiSystem II is a completely new design from scratch.
Upgrading to MultiSystem II is a simple
process with very little wiring and can usually be
accomplished in one day.

Manuals:

Our MultiSystem switching systems can be built with any number of inputs, outputs and stop controls. The system is configured in software which allows the for an extremely flexible structure and straightforward building blocks.

A location is built from a processor, a plane (to put the cards on) and a choice of positive or negative polarity, input or output cards. The system is controlled by software which is loaded into each processor.

The MultiSystem is built around high specification industrial processors that run a custom operating system designed for high speed real time processing. The total boot time is about 6 seconds and so the system is ready to run before the wind is up.

Communication between locations is by CAT5 100BaseT Ethernet cabling. Although the protocols running on the cable are fully compatible with an Ethernet system we only support a closed network that is solely for MultiSystem use, this is because we can only
guarantee performance if we know the amount of traffic on the network. It is possible to use a 802.11 Wireless network but again we cannot guarantee it will be to our performance requirements due to an inability to control external interference.

Wiring

Solid State pioneered the use of punch blocks in organ building, however we selected a high performance connector from a German manufacturer called Krone that has been in use in the European telecoms industry for 80 years and more recently was adopted for internet
connections in large office buildings around the world. It has been used by us in organ building since 1991.

Power

MultiSystem operates between 12 to 36-volt as standard. The system itself uses less than 1 Amp to operate, however care must be taken in providing adequate current to switch the organ loads.

Outputs -

Output modules provide 16 outputs per module. They are provided with Krone connectors to punch the wires directly to them avoiding an extra connector and hence increasing reliability. The module has built in suppression.